Tube labeling and cutting machine

ABSTRACT

Machine to attach labels to tubes. A stack of labels are placed in a magazine and machine automatically carries out a sequence of operations. The labels are serially removed from the magazine and glue is applied to one side. The glued label is then wound around a tube. The labeled tube is moved to a cutting station where it is either trimmed or severed into several smaller tubes, each with its own label. The several or trimmed tube is placed in another stations and unloaded.

April 3, 1973 E, P, m55 ET AL TUBE LABELNG AND CUTTING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Sept. 17, 1971 ZOFM @2530; O

April 3, 1973 E p, m55 ETAL TUBE LABELING AND CUTTING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 17, 1971 NIV.

April 3, 1973 E, p KISS ET AL TUBE LABELING AND CUTTING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet Filed Sept. 17, 1971 Aprll 3, 1973 E. P. Klss ET AL 3,725,179

TUBE LABELING AND CUTTING MACHINE Filed Sept. 17, 1971 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 E :E: :EEE

April 3, 1973 E. P. Klss ET AL TUBE LABELING ANDCUTTING MACHINE Filed Sept. 17, 19T

5 Sheets-Sheet 5 United States Patent Ofce 3,725,179 TUBE LABELING AND CUTTING MACHINE Emil P. Kiss, Philadelphia, Raymond C. Onyx, Ambler, and Richard F. Fegley, Warminster, Pa., assgnors to Paco Winders, Inc., Philadelphia, Pa.

Filed Sept. 17, 1971, Ser. No. 181,307 Int. Cl. B65c 9/.04

U.S. Cl. 156-448 20 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Machine to attach labels to tubes. A stack of labels are placed in a magazine and machine automatically carries out a sequence of operations. The labels are serially removed from the magazine and glue is applied to one side. The glued label is then Wound around a tube. The labeled tube is moved to a cutting station where it is either trimmed or severed into several smaller tubes, each with its own label. The severed or trimmed tube is placed in another station and unloaded.

This invention relates to package manufacturing equipment and in particular it relates to equipment for producing labeled tubular bodies which are in condition for subsequent processing such as for example, attaching lids or covers on open ends.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a machine for automatically performing a series of operations which simultaneously and without operator intervention form a plurality of labeled, tubular package bodies. v

The invention contemplates a unitary, automatically operating machine which extracts a multi-label sheet from a magazine, applies glue to the non-labeled side of the sheet, brings a tube and a label into juxtaposition and wraps the sheet around the tube, severs the tube into several smaller sections each with its own label and then places severed tube in position for unloading.

The preferred form of the invention and the details of the structure and of various features and advantages thereof will be apparent from the description below taken in conjunction with the following drawings wherein:

FIG. l is a diagrammatic view which shows the major components of a machine embodying the invention and generally illustrating the sequence of operation;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the machine of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a sectional elevational view taken along lines 3 3 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary enlarged elevational view taken along lines 4 4 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a plan view taken along the lines 5 5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is an elevational view taken alo-ng the lines 6 6 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary elevational view taken along lines 7 7 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary view showing the motion for feeding a sheet into the gluing station.

Before proceeding with the description it is pointed out that the term label as used herein is inclusive of a sheet having a single label printed thereon, a sheet having a plurality of labels printed thereon and arranged side-byside across the face of the sheet and also-to a sheet one face of which has a single or a multiple color or some particular design. Also it will be understood that the words glue and gluing as used herein refer broadly to adhesive normally or conventionally used for attaching labels to packages. 'Ihe term tube used herein will be understood to encompass tubes which are made of paper or cardboard and formed as by spiral or by convolute winding or the like and tubes made by synthetic materials such as extruded plastic.

3,725,179 Patented Apr. 3, 1973 In FIG. l a unitary frame (not shown) carries a label magazine 1, a label feed mechanism 2, a label gluing station 3, and a label transfer mechanism 4. The label feed mechanism transfers labels as between the magazine and the gluing station. The transfer mechanism 4 transfers labels from the gluing station 3 into a station for applying the label to a tube.

Another unitary frame (not shown) carries a rotatable turret 5 which mounts four equally spaced mandrels 6, 7, 8 and 9. The turret sequentially indexes the mandrels as between a tube loading station 10, a labeling or wrapping station 11, a cutting station 12 and an unload station 13. Connecting the gluing station 3 and the labeling station 11 is a label transfer device 4.

The general mode of operation of the foregoing is explained following:

A tube T is loaded onto, say, the mandrel 6. The turret indexes to move the mandrel and tube up into the labeling station 11. The topmost label in the stack L is picked up by the label feed mechanism 2 and moved into the gluing station 3 where glue is applied to the backside. The transfer 4 picks up the glued label and moves the same into the labeling or wrapping station 11. A tube is waiting in the station 11 and the mechanism operates to wrap the label around the tube. During the wrapping or labeling operation another tube is loaded on the mandrel in the loading station. 10. After the labeling operation the turret indexes so that the mandrel and labeled tube are moved into the cutting station 12 and the new tube is moved up to the labeling station 11. In the cutting station 12 the ends of the tube are trimmed or the tube is severed into several smaller tubes. During the cutting operation the mandrel in the loading station is supplied with a new tube.

After the cutting, labeling and loading operations just described the turret is again indexed to bring the cut tube into the unloading station where the tube or tubes are renoved and during the unloading operation, other loading, labelling cutting operation are taking place as previously described.

The devices for loading and unloading are not shown as these are of conventional design and are well known by those skilled in the art.

The operation of the turret mechanism 5 and the operation of the label feed mechanism 2 are synchronized so that after the turret indexes the label feed will pick up a single label and move it into the gluing station and then move back into position ready to pick up another label after the next indexing of the turret. Also the mechanism which lifts the stack works intermittently. The stack remains stationary while about a half dozen labels are sequentially picked off and glued, etc., and then another half dozen labels are `sequentially taken off, glued, etc.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3 the turret 5 is supported on a shaft 15 which extends into a housing partially shown at 16 where the .shaft is rotatably supported and connected to mechanism for performing the indexing function. The indexing mechanism is of conventional form and need not be explained in detail. Reference may be had to Pat. 3,420,127 which describes the type of turret indexing mechanism used in the present machine.

The housing 1-6 is joined to a frame 17 having forward section 17a, rear section 17b and side section 17e. The shaft 15 carries four equally spaced fingers indicated at 20. The fingers are adapted to` sequentially actuate a micro-switch 21 at the end of the turret indexing operation. The function of the micro-switch is to synchronize the turret indexing and the operation of the label feed mechanism as will be explained later.

Each of the mandrels 6, 7, 8 and 9 are adapted to be rotated while in the labeling station 11 and in the cutting station 12. For this purpose, the mandrels respectively carry the sheaves 22, 23, 24 and 25. A moving belt 26 is adapted to be contacted by the sheaves in the labeling and cutting positions and thereby cause rotation of the mandrels. The manner in which the belt 26 is mounted and driven is best seen in FIG. 3. The motor 30 rotates a drive pulley 31 which powers the belt 26. The belt extends down over the idler pulleys 32 and 33, over the idler 34 and sheaves 23 and 24 and then down over the lower idler pulley 35. As will be apparent, indexing of the turrets causes pairs of adjacent sheaves to come into contact with the belt.

In the labeling and cutting stations there are rollers which back up the tubes during the respective operations. Thus, as seen in FIG. 2, the roller 36 backs up the tube in the cutting station. During the turret indexing operation the back up rollers are moved away from the respective stations to provide clearance for the mandrels to rotate.

With reference to FIGS. 2 and 3 it will be seen that the roller 36 is mounted on a pair of arms 41 and 42 both of which are connected to the rock shaft 43 and that the back up roller 40 is connected to a pair of arms 44 and 45 also connected to the rock shaft 43.

The rock shaft 43 is rotatably supported on side 17C and also extends into the cabinet 16 (FIG. 2) where it is rotatably mounted and connected to a conventional eccentric-cam arrangement of the kind shown in Pat. 3,420,- 127. The operation of the cam is synchronized with the turret indexing drive so that the rock shaft 43 rocks the back up rollers up and away for indexing and then puts them back in position when the index operation has been completed.

In the cutting station the tube is trimmed or severed preferably with the use of roller knives of the type shown in Pat. 3,420,127. As illustrated herein, there are knives used and these are adapted to end-trim and to sever the tube into four smaller tubular sections. The knives are indicated at 50 and rotatably mounted on knife bar 51. The knife bar 51 is supported by the arms 52 and 53 both fixed to the rock shaft 54. The knife rock shaft 54 is rotatably mounted on side 17e and also exten-ds back into the cabinet 16 where it is rotatably mounted and connected to an eccentric-cam drive mechanism similarly as back up roller rock shaft 43. The operation of the cam is synchronized with the turret drive so that the rock shaft 54 rocks the knives into position to perform the cutting operation when the turret has indexed and rocks the knives down and away to provide clearance for the mandrels to rotate during an index operation.

The magazine and gluing mechanisms will next be described. Both of these mechanisms are carried by a frame generally indicated at 55 and having a rectangular shaped top 55a and rectangular shaped bottom 55b and vertical side pieces 55C extending down to the floor.

The magazine includes the elevator 56 which carries the stack of sheets or labels L. An adjustable stack guide `60 is mounted on the frame 55. The elevator stack guide 60 is mounted on the frame 55. The elevator is moved in the vertical direction by two pair of endless support chains disposed on and connected to the opposite sides of the elevator. The support chains on the left hand side of the machine (FIG. 3) are indicated at 61 and 62. The support chains 61 and 62 are mounted on the top sprockets of 63 and 64. The support chains on the right hand side are not shown. Similar sprockets 65 and 66 hold the support chains on the right hand side. The top sprockets 64 and 66 are mounted on the shaft 70 and the sprockets 63 and 65 are mounted on the shaft 71. The shafts are rotatably mounted on the top frame 55a. The bottom frame 55b rotatably mounts sprockets corresponding to the top sprockets as indicated at 72 and 73.

The shaft 71 mounts a drive sprocket '74 and the shaft 70 mounts a sprocket 75. The sprockets 74 and 75 mount a drive chain 76. Rotation of the drive sprocket 74 rotates the shaft 71 and causes the drive chain 76 to rotate shaft 70. Rotation of the shafts 70 and 71 imparts motion to the various sprockets 63, 64, 65 and 66 which cause the support chains to move the elevator 56 in a vertical direction.

The elevator 56 is adapted to move upwardly intermittently and also to be manually adjustable. This mechanism will next be described.

With reference to FIG. 7, the frame 55 carries a motor M rotating a sprocket (not shown) which drives a chain 77. The chain 77 is threaded over sprockets 78 and 79. The sprocket 78 is xed to the shaft S0 rotatably mounted in the frame 55 and rotation of the sprocket rotates the shaft. The shaft 80 carries a gear 81 (FIG. 4) which meshes with a gear 82. The gear 82 is fixed to the shaft 83 rotatably mounted in the frame 55. Rotation of the gear 82 rotates the shaft 83. The shafts 80 and 83 mount part of the gluing mechanism as will be explained later.

The shaft 83 carries an eccentric -84 at its outer end as particularly noted in FIGS. 4 and 5. The eccentric crank 85 is connected to a rocker arm 86 (see FIG. 4) which is L-shaped having a rock section 86a and a lift section 86b which carries a lift screw 90'.

The sleeve 91 is fixed to the frame and slidably supports the left hand side of shaft 92 (FIG. 6). The rocker arm 86 is rotatably mounted on the sleeve 91. The sleeve 91 also supports a pawl arm 93 adapted to interengage with the lift screw 90. The spring 94 connected to the frame biases the pawl arm 93 downwardly as viewed in FIG. 4. The downward position of pawl arm 93 is normally determined by the shoulder 95 on an interruptor or release arm pivotally connected to the frame 55.

As noted in FIG. 4, the eccentric 84 has moved the crank 85 to its furthermost position to the left so that the rocker arm 86 is rocked to the extreme clockwise position. The lift screw 90 is adjusted so that it just barely engages the pawl arm 93 and lifts the same slightly off of the shoulder 95. This is to provide a few thousandths clearance between shoulder and arm for reasons explained later. Therefore the rocker arm 86 can rock continuously without having an operational effect on the pawl arm. When the release arm 100 is rotated counterclockwise (in a manner explained later) the pawl arm 93 is free to drop down (rotate counterclockwise) and so interengage with screw 90. The extreme limit of counterclockwise rotation of the pawl arm 93 is fixed by the position of the screw 90 when the rocker arm 86 has been rotated fully counterclockwise by the crank 85. When the crank 85 moves to the left and rotates the rocker arm 86 clockwise, the screw 90 rotates the pawl arm 93 clockwise. The effect of the rotation of the pawl arm 93 is explained following.

The pawl arm 93 carries a drive pawl 101 engaged with the teeth of a ratchet wheel 102. The ratchet wheel 102 is keyed to the driven shaft 92 (FIG. 6). As the pawl arm 93 reciprocates back and forth the drive pawl 101 will move the ratchet 102 which in turn will rotate the driven shaft 92. A safety pawl is indicated at 103.

From the foregoing description it will be apparent that the continuous rotary motion of the drive shaft 83 will be translated into intermittent motion of the driven shaft 92.

The bushing 104 fixed to the frame slidably supports the shaft 92 at it right hand side. The shaft 92 carries an adjusting wheel 105 and a spring 106 bearing between the wheel 105 and ratchet 102. The spring 106 tends to keep the aforementioned parts in sliding engagement.

The driven shaft 92 carries a pinion 110 which has a drive pocket 111 carrying a pin 112 pinned to the shaft 92. By pusing on the wheel 105 the shaft 92 can be moved axially (to the right) so as to bring the pin 92 out of the drive pocket 111 and break the drive connection between the shaft 92 and pinion 110. This is used for manual adjust of the elevator 56 as will be explained later.

The pinion meshes with the pinion 113 mounted on the shaft 114 carrying a worm 115. The shaft 114 also carries the elevator adjusting wheel 116. The worm 115 engages a worm wheel 120 mounted on the shaft 71. Rotation of the shaft 71 effects vertical motion of the elevator 56 as previously explained.

Thus it will be seen that the intermittent rotation of the driven shaft 92 is translated into intermittent rotation of the shaft 71 and intermittent lifting of the elevator 56. In other words each time ratchet 1412 is rotated the elevator 56 will be incrementally moved upward.

With the intermittent drive, the elevator will remain stationary for a short period while several labels (about 6) are picked off and processed as mentioned heretofore. To stop and start the elevator drive Iwe have used a sensing device which detects when the stack height has been reduced an amount equal to the thickness of about six labels and then cause the elevator to move up a distance equal to about 6 labels. The sensing device will next be explained.

With reference to FIG. 2 the sensing device includes a bar 121 which is adapted to rest on the topmost label. The bar 121 is supported by a pair of arms 122, 123 fixed to a shaft 124. Fixed to the shaft 124 is a push rod 125 which extends downwardly and contacts the release arm 100. Suliicient downward movement of the pusher 125 will rotate the release 100 counterclockwise and permit the pawl arm 93 to drop off shoulder 95.

As the labels are picked off the stack, the bar 121 moves down. The arms 122, 123 and push rod 125 have enough flexibility so that the bar 121 can move down the thickness of about 6 labels before the pusher 125 will rotate the release arm 100. The drive then moves the elevator upwardly as previously explained. The bar 121 is moved up with the stack and the force of the push rod 125 on the release arm 10|) will be relieved. The bias spring 126 then pulls the release 100 back into the position of FIG. 4. The screw 90 in lifting the palwl arm to provide a few thousandths clearance as mentioned previously permits the spring to pull the release arm into position.

The label feed mechanism 2 will be explained particuarly in connection with FIGS. 2, 3 and 7.

A hollow closed end tube 127 extends across the top of the machine and is supported on each end by the standards 130 and 131. 'Ihe tube is connected to a vacuum system, the suction line of which is indicated in FIG. 3 at 132. The tube 127 carries a plurality of hollow flexible fingers 133 which have generally a curved shape and extend down toward the stack of labels and each terminating in a flexible pick-up head 134.

When the ngers are in the position as shown in FIG. 3 the suction at each head 134 will cause the fingers to grip or pick up the top most label. To insure ease of label separation from the stack an air nozzle 135 has been provided. The nozzle extends across the width of the magazine so that the air is directed completely across the stack of labels.

In FIG. 8 we have shown position of fingers 133 in moving the topmost label from the magazine into the gluing station. 'Ihe fingers indicated at 133a have just picked up the topmost label L-1 and moved upward to the left to the position indicated at 13317 where it will be seen that the topmost label L-2 is about to enter the gluing station.

The drive for moving the fingers 133 is provided by double acting cylinder 136 (see FIG. 7) which actuates drive linkage 137. The air to the cylinder is controlled by 4-1way valve 138 triggered by the microswitch 21 actuated by the turret indexing operation. The linkage for each ringer is essentially the same and the details of which are best indicated in FIGS. 3 and 7. The cylinder has a piston 140 which is connected to a link 141 fixed to the shaft 142 rotatably mounted on frame 55. The shaft also carries a fixed link 143 making a pivotal connection with a carrier link 144. The carrier link 144 is connected with the link 145 by means of the shaft 146. The link 145 is rotatably mounted on the frame 55. The carrier link 144 mounts the finger as by the pivot block 150. The shaft 146 extends across the top of the machine and commonly connects the linkages 137 so that the fingers 133 are moved back and forth in unison. llhe linkages are adjustable along the shaft 146.

Outward piston movement rotates the links 141 and 143 counterclockwise. This will lift the carrier link 144 upward in a counterclockwise direction which will move the fingers to the 133b position of FIG. 8. When the piston returns the carrier link returns to the position of FIG. 7 and the fingers are moved back ready to pick up another label.

It will be understood that the number and disposition of the lingers 133 is determined by the size of the stack. Where more than one stack of labels is used, the fingers are grouped with the respective stacks.

The structure and operation of the gluing station will next be described.

The guide roll 151 is mounted on shaft 152 rotatably mounted on the frame. The guide roll 153 is mounted on shaft 154 rotatably mounted on frame. The rolls 151 and 153 are in running engagement and preferably the top roll is rubber covered. A spring 1.55 (FIG. 4) holds the top roll 151 firm against the bottom roll 153. The guide rolls receive a label from the stack (FIG. 8) and transfer the same onto glue applying roller 156 (FIG. 3). The roller 156 is supported by the shaft 80 and driven in unison with the guide rolls by virtue of sprocket 79 (FIG. 7). In appropriate circumferential slots provided in guide roll 153 there are horizontally extending fingers one of which is indicated at 157. The fingers are attached to the frame and function to guide the label into the mouth of the rolls.

For wetting the gluing roller `156 we preferably use a pick-up roller 160 mounted on the shaft 83. The pick-up roller is in contact with the gluing roller 156 and runs partially submerged in the glue 161 contained in tank 162. The gluing roller and pick-up roller are driven in unison by virtue of the gears 81 and 82 (FIG. 4).

There is a thin film of 4glue maintained on the pick-up roller 160 as by its rotation in the tank 162. With the gluing roller 156 in contact with the pick-up roller, glue is continuously transferred to the surface of the gluing roller.

The guide rollers 151 and 153 push the label onto the surface of the glue roller 156. The glue sucks the label against the roller surface and. the guide rollers keep pushing the label as it moves along with the gluing roller.

In order to pull the label olf the gluing roller we have provided a plurality of diverter fingers 163 (FIG. 4) which engage the label and change its direction of motion away from the surface of the gluing roller up into the label transfer mechanism 4 which will be described shortly.

The diverters 163 are mounted on a shaft "164 adapted to be rotated by the linkage 165 controlled by handle 166. This provides for the diverters to be adjustable with respect to the gluing roller surface.

Tank 162 is supported by the links generally indicated at 167 adapted to be `actuated by `a handle 168 to move the tank down away from the pick-up roller. The links and handle are locked in position as by the lock mechanism 169.

The guide rollers, the gluing roller and the pick-up roller are all driven in unison by the motor M (see FIG. 7). The sprocket 78 on the shaft 80 drives the gluing roller 156 and through the medium of gears 81 and S2 (FIG. 4) also drives the pick-up roller 160. The sprocket 79 on the shaft 154 drives the guide roller 153. The friction contact provided by the rubber surface on guide roll 151 and the pressure provided by the spring 155 causes the guide roll 151 to rotate with the .guide roll 153.

While We have shown the gluing roller 156 as having a continuous surface, it will be understood that the surface may be discontinuous as by using -a segmented roller which will apply glue to only part of the surface of the The transfer mechanism 2 which moves the label from the gluing station into the labeling station will next be described.

A frame =170 is mounted on a shaft 171 rotatably supported by the frame 55. The frame 170 has a pair of V- type supports 172 carrying adjusting screws 173 engaging with frame 55. The shaft 171 carries a roller 174. The opposite side of the frame 170 carries a roller 175. The rollers 174 and 175 mount the perforated belt 176 having perforations indicated at 177. The screws 173 provide for adjusting the left hand end of the belt with respect to the tube in the labeling station 11.

The frame 170 mounts a vacuum box 180 the bottom of which has perforation 181. The box is connected to a suction system the suction line of which is indicated at 182.

By drawing a vacuum inside of the box air is sucked up through the perforations 181 in the bottom of the box and through the perforation 177 in the belt. Thus it will be apparent that when the diverters move a label off the glue roller 156 the label will be picked up lby the belt 176, and moved toward the left in view FIG. 3. As more area of the label becomes available to the belt these areas are picked up and held against the bottom surface of the belt. In this manner the label is moved in a generally flat condition into the labeling station at the left hand end of the belt (see FIG. 3). In the labeling station, the leading edge of the label is immediately put into contact with the rotating tube `and will adhere to the same. With rotation of the tube and the continual feeding of the labels from the transfer mechanism the label is wrapped around the tube. The label is ironed down by the back-up roller 36.

The frames 55 and 17 are adapted to be separated to provide for maintenance of the gluing station. To this end the frames are connected (FIG. 2) on the left hand side by pivots one of which is shown on 183. On the right hand side the frames are bolted by releasable bolts not shown.

When the bolts are released the frame l5S can be moved back as indicated by the dotted line 55 in FIG. 2. In this position of the frames, the label transfer mechanism 4 can be titlted about the shaft 171 upwardly as indicated by the dotted line 170 in FIG. 3. The foregoing condition allows free access to the gluing station.

In certain types of labeling it is desirable to increase the drying time of the glue. For this purpose, the invention contemplates constructing the transfer mechanism with a longer belt. With this construction it is advantageous to mount the transfer mechanism on the frame 17. With such mounting, the pivot connection between frames can be replaced by stand-ard bolting because when the frames are separated there is ample access to the gluing station.

The electrical system for the machine takes conventional form and need not be described in det-ail. The motors 3u and M and the motor (not shown) for powering the rock shafts 'are controlled by standard motorstarter devices with the actuating switches being set up on a control panel.

Various structures heretofore described are coordinated and used for advantageously adopting the machine for a variety of operations to produce tubular items.

MULTIPLE WRAP By coordinating of the size of the label and the diameter of a tube, a label can be made to wrap around the tube several times and thus produce an insulating and/ or protective coating.

DRY FLAP By using a segmented gluing roller, the label which is fed to the labeling station may have a non-glued section adjacent its trailing edge. By coordinating the size of the glued part of the label and the diameter of the tube, all

of the label is glued to the tube except the trailing edge.

The tube therefore has a dry flap which is highly useful in textile winding applications.

THIOK-WALLED TUBES The machine, with appropriate adjustments, has the ability to produce tubes with very thick Walls. This fills a long felt need in the can body art.

END CUFF By using two stacks of labels in the magazine coordinated and positioned with respect to the length and/ or sections of the gluing roller and with respect to tube length, a tube having end cuffs can be quickly processed. These are highly useful as mailing tubes. This operation and dry flap operation usually do not require cutting and the knives can be removed.

We claim:

1. In a tube labeling and cutting machine a combination of a label magazine to support a stack of labels in a generally flat condition;

a label feed mechanism including means for picking up a label from the top of the stack and moving the same into a gluing station;

a gluing station including means to receive a label from said label feed, place glue on one surface of the label and move the label into position to be picked up by a label transfer mechanism;

a label transfer mechanism for engaging the non-glued side of the label as it emerges from the gluing station and move the label to a labeling station wherein a label is wrapped around a tube;

a rotatable turret having four radially spaced, parallel mandrels for receiving and supporting a tube to be labeled and cut;

means for indexing said turret so that each mandrel occupies successively a tube loading station, a labeling station, a cutting station and an unloading station and at any given time when one mandrel is in the loading station, the next leading adjacent mandrel is in the labeling station, the next leading adjacent mandrel is in the cutting station, and the last mandrel is in the tube unloading station;

said labeling station including a roller to press the glued side of a label from the label transfer mechanism against a tube mounted on a mandrel in the labeling station and means to cause relative motion between the roller and the tube so that the label wraps around the tube; and

said cutting station including cutting knife means and means mounting the knives for movement to cut a labeled tube on a mandrel in the cutting station and means for causing relative rotation between the knife means and the tube for the cutting operation.

2. In a tube labeling and cutting machine the combination of:

a label magazine to hold a quantity of labels;

a label feed mechanism including means for taking a label from the magazine and moving the same into a gluing station;

a gluing station including means to receive a label from said label feed, place glue on one surface of the label and move the label into position to be picked up b-y a label transfer mechanism;

a label transfer mechanism for engaging the non-glued side of the label as it emerges from the gluing station and move the label to a labeling station wherein the label is wrapped around a tube;

a rotatable turret having four radially spaced, parallel mandrels for receiving and supporting a tube to be labeled and cut; and

means for indexing said turret so that each mandrel occupies successively a tube loading station, a labeling station, a cutting station and an unloading station and at any given time when one mandrel is in the loading station, the next leading mandrel is in the labeling station, the next leading adjacent mandrel is in the cutting station, and the last mandrel is in the unloading station.

3. A construction in accordance with claim 2 wherein said label magazine includes a horizontally oriented elevator for supporting said stack of labels and drive means for moving the elevator in a vertical direction including control mechanism to move the elevator upwardly as a function of the vertical position of the topmost label whereby the topmost label on the stack is always in position to be picked up by the label feed mechanism.

4. A construction in accordance with claim 3 wherein said control mechanism moves said elevator upwardly in successive increments.

`5. A construction in accordance with claim 4 wherein said control mechanism includes stack height sensor means having a sensing bar in contact with the topmost label and interruptor mechanism connected to the sensor means and to the elevator drive means, the sensing bar, when the topmost label is above a predetermined height causing the interluptor to prevent the elevator drive moving the elevator upwardly and when the topmost label is below predetermined point, causing the interruptor to cause the elevator drive to move t-he elevator upwardly one increment.

6. A construction in accordance with claim 5 wherein said elevator drive means includes:

a power drive shaft having an eccentric;

a crank arm driven by the eccentric;

a driven shaft;

a pawl arm rotatably mounted on said driven shaft and carrying a pawl;

a ratchet fixed to the driven shaft, the pawl engaging for ratchet for rotating the same and rotation of the ratchet rotating said driven shaft;

a rocker arm rotatably mounted on the driven shaft and connected to the crank arm to be rocked back and forth by the arm;

contact means on the rocker arm for engaging the pawl arm and rotating the same in a direction so the pawl rotates the ratchet;

a plurality of vertically extending endless chains supporting said elevator;

drive sprockets mounting the chains, rotation of the drive sprockets causing simultaneously motion of the chains to cause vertical motion of the elevator; and

a Idrive connection between said sprockets and said driven shaft providing that rotation of the driven shaft causes rotation of said sprockets.

7. A construction in accordance with claim 6 wherein said interruptor includes:

a rotatably mounted release arm abutting the pawl arm and normally maintaining the pawl arm out of operating engagement with said rocker arm contact means whereby motion of the rocker arm does not rotate the pawl arm;

a push rod connected to and movable by said sensing bar and abutting said release arm, the sensor bar causing the push rod, when the stack height is below said level, to rotate the release arm out of engagement with the pawl arm and thereby permitting the rocker arm to rotate the pawl arm; and

spring means biasing the release arm into abutting engagement with said push rod.

8. A construction in accordance with claim 6 wherein said elevator drive means further includes a pinion rotatably mounter on the driven shaft, the pinion having a drive socket:

Va pin on the driven shaft and adapted to tit into said socket and provide a driving connection;

shift means to shift said driven shaft axially to move the pin out of the pocket and break the drive connection;

a worm shaft;

a pinion on the worin shaft engaging said lirst pinion;

a worm on the -worm shaft;

a sprocket shaft;

a worm wheel on the sprocket shaft engaging the worm, the sprocket shaft carrying at least some of said chain sprockets; and

an elevator adjusting wheel connected to the worm shaft to rotate the same when the shift means operates to break said engagement.

9. A construction in accordance with claim 2 wherein said label feed mechanism comprises:

a plurality of hollow fingers;

a common mounting means for the tingers;

means for connecting the lingers to the suction side of a pump whereby to draw a vacuum in the lingers; and

finger drive means connected with the common mounting means and moving the mounting means for the fingers to simultaneously engage the topmost label on the stack whereby the vacuum created therein grips the label and then moving the mounting means so that the fingers move the gripped label to the gluing station.

10. A construction in accordance with claim 9 wherein said finger drive means includes:

a double acting liuid pressure piston and cylinder;

a four-way valve controlling the iiuid pressure to the cylinder; and

sensing means actuated when the turret has been indexed from one station to another to operate the valve to control fluid pressure to the cylinder so that the piston moves to cause the fingers to pick up a label and deliver the label to the guide rolls and then return the lingers to the topmost label on the stack and remain fixed on the label until the turret is again indexed.

11, A construction in accordance with claim 2 wherein said gluing station includes:

a pair of rotatable guide rollers one mounted over the other and engaging the same, the guide roller being adapted to receive a label from said label feed mechanism and move the same onto a glue applying roller;

a rotatable glue applying roller to receive a label from the guide rollers, rotation of the roller and movement of the label causing one side of the label to progressively move over the surface of the roller and receive a coating of glue;

drive means for rotating the guide and glue rollers in unison;

means for wetting the glue applying roller with a `film of glue as the roller rotates; and

means for progressively removing a label from the glue applying roller after said application of glue and direct the label to said label transfer mechanism.

12. A construction in accordance with claim 11 wherein said means for wetting the glue roller includes:

a tank for holding a quantity of glue;

a glue pick-up roller mounted below said glue applying roller and in contact therewith and partially submerged in the glue;

means connected between the glue applying roller and the pick-up to drive the pick-up roller; and

support means for the tank including mechanism providing for the tank to be moved between` a position wherein the pick-up roller is partially submerged in the glue and a position wherein the tank and glue are spaced downwardly away from the pick-up roller.

13. A construction in accordance with claim 2 wherein said label transfer mechanism includes:

an endless perforated belt;

roller means supporting the belt for rotation in condition wherein the bottom of the belt runs in substantially flat condition; and

a vacuum box mounted inside said belt and adapted to suck air through said perforations, the suction holding the non-glued side of the label up against the bottom of the belt.

14. A construction in accordance with claim 11 further including mechanism providing for the elevator drfive, the glue roller, the pick-up roller, the guide rollers and label transfer mechanism to operate in a predetermined timed relationship.

15. A construction in accordance with claim 2 further including:

a first frame commonly mounting the label transfer mechanism, the turret and the back up rolls;

a second frame commonly mounting the label magazine, the label feed mechanism and the gluing station; and

pivot means connecting the first and second frames and providing for the second frame to be swingable away from the first frame.

16. In a tube labeling and cutting machine a combination of:

a label magazine to support a stack of labels in generally flat condition the magazine including a horizontally oriented elevator for supporting said stack of labels and drive means for moving the elevator in a vertical direction including control mechanism to move the elevator upwardly as a function of the vertical position of the topmost label whereby the topmost label on the stack is always in position to be picked up by a label feed mechanism;

label feed mechanism including a plurality of hollow lingers, a common mounting means for the iingers, means for connecting the fingers to the suction side of a pump whereby to draw a vacuum in the fingers and finger drive means connected with the common mounting means and moving the mounting means for the fingers to simultaneously engage the topmost label on the stack whereby the vacuum created therein grips the label and then moving the mounting means so that the fingers move the gripped label to a gluing station;

a gluing station including a pair of rotatable guide rollers one mounted over the other and engaging the same, the guide roller being adapted to receive a label from said label feed mechanism and move the same onto a glue applying roller, a rotatable glue applying roller to receive a label from the guide rollers, rotation of the roller and movement of the label causing one side of the label to progressively move over the surface of the roller and receive a coating of glue, drive means for rotating the guide and glue rollers in unison, means for wetting the glue applying roller with a film of glue as the roller rotates and means for progressively removing a label from the glue applying roller after said application of glue and direct the label to a label transfer mechanism;

a label transfer mechanism including an endless perforated belt, roller means supporting the belt for rotation in condition wherein the bottom of the belt runs in substantially flat condition and a vacuum box mounted inside said belt and adapted to suck air through said perforation, the suction holding the non-glued side of the label up against the bottom of the belt, the belt moving the label to a labeling station wherein the label is wrapped around a tube;

a rotatable turret having four radially spaced, parallel mandrels for receiving and supporting a tube to be labeled and cut; and

means for indexing said turret so that each mandrel occupies succesively a tube loading station, a labeling station, a cutting station and an unloading station and at any given time when one mandrel is in the loading station, the next leading mandrel is in the labeling station, the next leading adjacent mandrel 12 is in the cutting station and the last mandrel is in the tube unloading station. 17. In a tube labeling and cutting machine the combination of:

a label magazine to hold a quantity of labels;

a label feed mechanism including means for receiving a label vfrom the magazine and moving the same into a gluing station;

a gluing station including means to receive a label from said label feed, place glue on one surface 'of the label;

mechanism including a label transfer mechanism to serially receive labels which have been glued, engage the non-glued side of each label and move the label to a labeling station wherein the label is wrapped around a tube;

a rotatable turret having four radially spaced, parallel mandrels for receiving and supporting a tube to be labeled and cut; and

means for indexing said turret so that each mandrel occupies successively a tube loading station, a labeling station, a cutting station and an unloading station and at any given time when one mandrel is in the loading station, the next leading mandrel is in the labeling station, the next leading adjacent mandrel is in the cutting station, and the last mandrel is in the unloading station.

18. In combination:

a label magazine to hold a quantity of labels;

label feed mechanism including means for receiving a label from the magazine and moving the same into a gluing station;

a gluing station including means to receive a label from said label feed and place glue on one surface of the label;

mechanism including a label transfer mechanism to serially receive labels which have been glued, engage the non-glued side of each label and move the label to a wrapping station wherein the label is wrapped around a tube;

a rotatable turret having a plurality of radially spaced, parallel mandrels for receiving and supporting a tube to be wrapped; and

means for indexing said turret so that each mandrel occupies successively a plurality of stations beginning with a tube loading station, ending with an unloading station and with an intermediate wrapping station.

19. In combination:

a label magazine to hold two groups of labels, the

groups being separated from one another;

label feed mechanism including means for simultaneously receiving labels from respective groups and moving the same into a gluing station;

a gluing station including means to simultaneously receive labels of the respective groups from said label feed and place glue, at least partially on one surface of each label;

mechanism including a label transfer mechanism to simultaneously receive labels of the respective groups which have been glued, engage the non-glued side of each label and move the labels to a wrapping station wherein each label is wrapped around a tube respectively at opposite ends whereby to form cuffs;

a rotatable turret having a plurality of radially spaced, parallel mandrels for receiving and Supporting a tube to be wrapped; and

means for indexing said turret so that each mandrel occupies successively a plurality of stations beginning with a tube loading station, ending with an unloaditng station and with an intermediate wrapping staion.

20. In combination:

a label magazine to hold a quantity of labels;

label feed mechanism including means for receiving a 13 label from the magazine and moving the same into a gluing station;

a gluing station including means to receive a label from said label feed and place glue at least partially on one surface of the label and leaving a section along the trailing edge free from glue;

mechanism including a label transfer mechanism to serially receive labels which have been glued, engage the non-glued side of each label and move the label to a Wrapping station wherein the label is wrapped around a tube except for said section along the trailing edge whereby to form a dry ap;

a rotatable turret having a plurality of radially spaced, parallel mandrels for receiving and supporting a tube to be wrapped; and

means for indexing said turret so that each mandrel UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,926,808 3/ 1960 Long 216-60 3,695,965 10/ 1972 Current et al 156-187 727,664 5/1903 Milne 156-446 DOUGLAS J. DRUMMOND, Primary Examiner M. G. WITYSHYN, Assistant Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 

